Tale of a Shadow
by LionRoaR
Summary: Elli is on her way home from an anime convention when she and her friends get into an accident! She wakes up in an unfamiliar place to find that she's been magically transported into the Naruto universe! MOVED TO STORY CALLED "FALSE SHADOWS."
1. Prologue

**NOTICE:  
**I am rewriting this fanfiction for several reasons (see NOTICE chapter if you wish to know why). I'm not going to take this version down (at least not now) but if you're interested in reading the new version it will be called "False Shadows." Thanks for your understanding! :)

-LionRoaR

**Author's Note: **This intro (though still written by me) is for the story The Fallen Someones by HinaKita (cowritten by myself and several other people). This story is the segment I am writing about a girl named Elli who finds herself waking up in the Naruto world after an accident, and therefore is only for updates concerning that part of the story. For the rest of the tale, please refer to HinaKita's story. Thank you and hope you enjoy!

**Prologue**

The soft sound of rain hitting the car was drowned out by music and voices. The girls traveling on the stormy, eerie day talked animatedly about the anime convention they were heading home from. A few of them were trying to shout out the loudest of the group – a somewhat short girl with dark curly hair and deep brown eyes.

"Oh my gosh! That one guy cosplaying as Allen was so cute! Remember him?" She asked no one in particular.

"We know, Acacia. He was cute. Can you stop talking about it now?" Dani asked, glaring at her. Noise of any sort was Dani's mortal enemy. Dani was of somewhat average height, with long pale blonde hair and even paler skin. Next to her was Emily, with her light brown hair and cheerful face. In the backseat, Becky and Elli sat in silence. Becky had short dark red hair, and grey-blue eyes. In her arms she held a small pink rabbit. Usa-chan, from Ouran High school Host Club. Elli was on the tall side of average height, with dark brown eyes and dark curly shoulder-length hair with black streaks in it. The driver, Ashley, was talking to her passenger, Rachel. Ashley had short blonde hair and bright blue eyes framed by her glasses. Rachel was tall and thin with gray-green eyes and short light brown hair. The convention had been fun, but they were all quite ready to be home.

"I'm really happy that I got Usa-chan! Isn't he cute?" Becky asked Elli. The latter turned, smiling cheerfully.

"Yeah. Usa-chan is adorable! Do you like my Gaara plushie?" She asked, holding up said doll. It was actually pretty well made, and Becky took a few moments to admire it before replying.

"Wow, this one's really good," she said.

"What did you think of the guy cosplaying as Kyo?" Rachel was asking Ashley.

"He was pretty good," the latter replied. All of the voices rising at once made Dani irritable. But she resigned herself to her fate and with a huff crossed her arms and leaned against the window.

"What did you like best, Emily?" Becky asked.

"I dunno. It was pretty fun in general." Emily looked over her shoulder at the two in the back and grinned impishly. Elli smiled back and then looked out the window.

"Hey, how long until we get close to home?" Rachel asked Ashley.

"We'll get there when we get there!" Ashley retorted impatiently.

"Well, yeah, but _when_?"

"I. Don't. Know."

"Hey, mooses!" Emily said, motioning to the road with a startled look on her face. The rest of the girls turned and looked, stunned to see a family of the large antlered creatures blocking the road only a few yards ahead.

"No, it's meese!" Becky said in a high-pitched, frantic voice.

"MOOSEN!" Elli exclaimed.

"Guys, it's moos-"

Ashley was cut off when she swerved to avoid the moose and a huge crash echoed through the vehicle as all the girl's worlds went completely black.


	2. Chapter One  Awakening

**Author's note:** Here is the very first chapter of Elli's story! The rest of the tale can be found on HinaKita's profile in the story titled "The Fallen Someones". Thank you for reading! Now for... disclaimers!

Naruto: LionRoaR does not own Naruto or its characters, however she does take credit for her OCs… BELIEVE IT!

**Chapter One**

**Awakening**

.*~:^.^:~*.

"Ugh…" I groaned, squinting. "What in the name of pancakes happened?" I opened my eyes fully and instantly realized I was in trouble. There was no car roof overhead, as there very well should have been, and Acacia's voice wasn't giving me a headache anymore. In fact, there was nothing but blackness and silence. I lay there, stunned. What in the world was going on? Suddenly a light appeared overhead. Was that…? But before I could even think of being dead, which seemed likely – what with the moose and all – the light suddenly swarmed toward me and surrounded me in its essence. I felt a cool tingle, and closed my eyes, feeling so peaceful and _good_. Then there was this weird feeling, as if I knew exactly what every part of my body was doing. Little patches in my being seemed to radiate with energy, and I found that if I thought about it I could _move _those pools at will. It was a strange, exhilarating feeling. When I finally reopened my eyes I noticed a cloud-flecked sky of the brightest blue staring back at me. I sat up too quickly and almost caused myself to fall back over from the dizziness. I looked closely at the sky. Why was it so freaking colorful, anyway? Where the heck was I? I shakily got to my feet and brushed myself off.

"What the…?" I looked down at the grass, the small patches of trees nearby that probably were just some small woods, and finally… I gasped as I held my hands closer to my face. They were partially visible beneath the black arm-warmers held by small equally black buckles that made up the more interesting part of my anime costume. From what I could see of my skin, it was… well, computer generated; or something close to that. _Am I in an Anime? _I wondered. _Or maybe this is Heaven…?_ It seemed possible, in a remote way. Heaven for me might as well be in anime form.

I got to my feet and noticed a square target set up beside a ridiculously blue river that sparkled in the sunlight. Well, throwing knives ruled out Heaven. _Wow. Water sure is bright in an anime world. _Just as the thought came to me I realized it was a perfectly genius notion. I knew that I _was_ in an anime world. I had to be! It didn't matter that the idea was utterly preposterous in all reasonable ways. Hadn't I believe in awesomeness in my world? Well, not this kind of awesomeness, but still!

"I wonder which anime universe I'm in…? Hmm…" I considered this for a moment. Too open for Bleach, I suspected. Not colorful enough for Fruuba, plus there was the lack of trees. It couldn't be any of the Shouja manga I'd be reading, in fact. It was too hardcore for that. I glanced at the brand new, shiny, entirely fake Leaf Village headband I'd bought at the Anime Convention my friends and I had gone to. Well, it was a place to start. So if I was in the Naruto universe, how could I test that's what anime it really was…? A sudden idea occurred to me, and probably due to the shock of waking up in a random new dimension I carried this plan out at once without my usual period of reflection.

"Look out, river!" I leaped into the cool water and… instantly sank in.

"Okay… this is not Naruto. I _repeat: _this is _not _Naruto!" I made a face at my reflection. I was surprised at seeing what I looked like as a real anime character. My characteristically curly brown hair looked positively lethal in its sharpness, and the black streaks that ran through it were even more prominent than usual. My dark brown eyes, framed by angled black bangs, looked small for any anime style I remembered and were tilted upwards slightly, giving me a sad sort of expression. I looked less generally angry here, which was always nice. _I look c__ool… _I thought, feeling a bit of satisfaction from that realization.

"Uh, are you alright in there?" I was shocked to hear a familiar voice behind me. I turned, took one look at the man's mask and silver hair that was all _phapoom! … _and I totally lost it. _OH MY GOSH I _AM_ IN NARUTO I JUST NEED TO WORK ON MY CHAKRA CONTROL!_ I leaped across the river, ignoring the cold against my waist that was soaking through the outfit Becky had made for me.

"Kaka-sensei, please teach me to walk on water like Jesus!" I cired, figuring this was a dream and I could do whatever I flippin' wanted to. I'd never seen a real anime sweat-drop before, but there was my first one, hovering over Kakashi's mountain of spiky, gravity-defying hair. I wondered if I could make one of those appear? It was worth a shot... Nope, nothin'. I guessed it would take some practice.

"Who are you?" These were the words he said, but for some reason I could also hear his thoughts echoing through the air as if he were actually voicing them - kind of like it was in the anime.

_What a strange girl. Is she a student? She seems too old. Is she a ninja at all? Why is she referring to me as "Kaka-sensei"? Who is Jesus? Where'd she even get that headband? Is it even real?_

"Yes, I am. But not that kind. Yes, I'm too old. Technically yes, I _am_ a ninja. I'm calling you Kaka-sensei because I feel like it. Jesus is the one and only God, or as people would like me to say He is in _my _opinion. I got the headband at an anime convention, so no it is not real." I smiled at his stunned expression, wondering what was so odd about me answering his questions. I hadn't quite noticed the mind-reading thing yet.

"How did you…?"

"How did I what? Wait…" My eyes grew huge. If I could have seen them, I think I would have laughed at myself. I have a little trouble taking myself seriously sometimes – especially when I'm trying to be goofy or anything like that. But the reason behind my ridiculous expression was probably because I had had a sudden realization, and this realization drowned out all other thoughts. If I was in the Naruto world, then... _he _was…

"GAAAAAAARA!" I randomly screamed, like the pathetic fangirl I am. I probably scared the crap out of Kakashi-sensei.

"Kakashi-sensei, what's going on? What's with the yelling? Why aren't you making a big deal of hiding yourself like normal?" A loud, obnoxious, seemingly masculine but actually girl's voice asked. As I had hoped, a stocky sort of kid with spiky blonde hair and dark lines on his cheek ran out from a nearby bush, his blue eyes wide and a kunai in his hand. I am a relatively quiet, introverted person. But when waking up in your favorite anime among the characters you've come to love all reason seems to depart. So I glomped Naruto. Oh yes. The awkward, boy-repellant tomboy that had never once had a date in seventeen years of life actually tackled Naruto Uzumaki so hard he fell on his butt.

"NARUTO! Wow, your hair is much less sharp than I'd have thought!" I noted as I fluffed his yellow mop of a mane about - his "yicky spellow hair" as Becky called it. I looked up as two more figures emerged from the brush. Sakura wasn't important in the light of the guy that emerged beside her. I could feel anger burning in my veins as I stood and marched over to Sasuke. I seemed to be running on pure adrenaline as I turned my body and slapped Sasuke silly with a roundhouse kick to the face that was so powerful and quick even _I _was left dizzy in its wake. Not dizzy enough to give Sasuke a piece of my mind, though.

"Take that, Emo Duckbutt! That's for almost killing all the people I love and even some I don't and am glad died!" I yelled, not really caring that I had just kicked some thirteen-year-old kid to the ground. Naruto and Sasuke stared at me blankly from their somewhat similar positions. Kakashi was looking at Sakura and murmuring to her that he had no idea who I was or where I had come from.

"Oh, how rude of me." I turned to Kakashi, my animosity towards Sasuke forgotten for the moment. "My name's Elli. I'm a ninja myself – well, sort of," I said, referring to my acquired purple belt in Taekwondo. I wondered momentarily when my accursed shyness would butt into this wonderful, awesome moment, but for the time being I was safe so I let the thought slide. I liked to run on these random bursts of outgoingness when they present themselves.

"Uh… right. I'm Kakashi Hatake and these are my students-"

"Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha, and Naruto Uzamaki," I interrupted him.

"Right." He stared at me blankly. I could hear Sakura's "inner-self" yelling and threatening me for kicking Sasuke, but since she wasn't sure how good I was she wasn't about to actually challenge me head on.

"Do you live around here?" Sakura asked skeptically. She was pretending to be nice, but her thoughts were pretty much calling me any conceivable bad name there was – and a few I'd never even heard of before. _Why couldn't I have gone to Shippuden? Sakura's much cooler there. _I thought wearily.

"I call it inter-dimensional travel. You should never try it in your lifetime if you can help it." By this time I'd managed to calm myself down a little. Or so I'd thought. "Oh, by the way… has Sasuke been bitten yet? Has Naruto learned the Rasengan? What about Itachi? Has he entered the plotline yet?" I asked before I actually thought through what I was saying. As I realized Sakura still had long hair the members of Team 7 stared blankly at me. Kakashi's one eye was like O.- and Naruto's mouth hung open to accompany his confused scowl. Sasuke's death glare was priceless. I felt a tinge of satisfaction as I located a small red mark where I'd kicked him. Being a ninja, he could probably kick my butt – but that'd be in _my _world. Here, I could feel the power waiting to come bursting out – hopefully pummeling Sasuke in the process. That'd be a bonus.

"What are you talking about? What's the "Rasengan"?" Naruto asked. I noticed Kakashi seemed uncomfortable by my knowledge of this technique, but I figured it was too late to take back what I knew. I frowned.

"Wait… so this is most positively before the Chunin Exams, right?"

"Those are in two months." Kakashi said. His thoughts wondered how I even knew about them, as they'd not been announced yet.

"Oh man! If this is before Shippuden… that means I'm a WALKING SPOILER!" I slapped my forehead. Of course! Why hadn't I realized? They were all still kids – I towered over them, at least in anime terms... meaning like a foot and a half tops. Why couldn't I have landed from my inter-dimmensional travels into Shippuden? Sakura wouldn't be staring at me like I was some deranged squirrel if I had.

"What're you spoiling?" Naruto asked curiously. My head hurt a bit – that was weird. And what was that beeping sound? It was driving me nuts. It was a mixture of a light _eeeeep _and a _wheee ooo whee ooo._ I had to have hit my noggin pretty hard during my dimension-travel, or at least that's how I figured it. After all, that seemed the most logical theory. A bump to the head can mean the difference between senile and… something else.

"I'm spoiling the entire future of this series! I know that Sasuke is a power-hungry idiot, Orochimaru should die again even if he's dead and not reincarnated into Kabuto, I know that the Mapquest ninjas show up after the Chunin exams (as does Mizuki, who's a kitty-cat) and Kakashi sucks Diedara's hand off and… and..." I noticed they were all staring at me as I ranted.

"Oh yeah! I also know all about you guys! I know that Sasuke thinks his brother randomly killed his whole Clan and swore revenge even though that's not entirely true and I know that he thinks he needs to get power through hatred even when every person who's ever done that in any story always ends up either dead or alone. I know that Sakura is annoying and has this weird alter ego self inside of her that's really a female dog, although she improves along with the series, and I know that Naruto wants to become the Hokage and probably should 'cause it would suck if he didn't, and just so you know, Naruto, Sakura has relationship issues so you should stop being so totally dense and fall in love with Hinata. Oh, and _Kakashi_. I know that no one from my world has ever seen your face, even though there's a whole episode dedicated to that discovery (which ends in a disappointing but hilarious revealing of another mask), and I know that you got your Sharingan eye from a kid named Obito who was on your squad led by the Fourth Hokage, and I know that Obito didn't give you a Jounin… celebratory… present… thing… And on the mission you became a Jounin he got squashed by some boulder and gave you his eye… and… um…" Team 7 stared at me even more, if that was possible. Dang, I really _was _a walking spoiler.

"How did you know that?" Kakashi asked me, and he looked wary. The other three hadn't really credited me too much until they saw their sensei's face.

"I would ask you what happened to Rin, but I'm sure you won't tell me." I sighed. Naturally. I knew too much, too early, so they were probably totally clueless at this point. I wished I wasn't so flustered - I tended to babble when I was flustered.

"Oh yeah, and Naruto… the octopus is not an octopus. Just to clarify. Wait… is Zabuza dead yet?" Sakura's skeptical look turned to one of utter and complete amazement.

"How'd you know about him?"

"I've read the books. So, did he?" Several thought-voices centered on the word "books", but no one bothered to actually ask out loud. At that point I had noticed that the voices echoed slightly and that mouths weren't moving, so I knew by then that they were thoughts and not actual words. _That's so wierd! _I thought.

"Yeah…" Sakura murmured hesitantly.

"So you're… like, from the future?" Naruto asked with wide eyes. Of course he'd be the first one to buy all this.

"Well, something like that," I said lazily, not really feeling like revealing too much, "I'm psychic." I made this up on the fly so I'd have some random way of explaining what I knew. I had no clue if that was a viable excuse, but hey, it was better than trying to explain I was from another world and that I knew everything about their futures and what was going to happen and what might happen (that was all just speculation at that point).

"Oh, _cool!"_ Naruto exclaimed, being the typical sucker that he was. Kakashi didn't know what to think, Sasuke was glaring daggers at me for my comments about him, and Sakura was apparently a bit skeptical once again, judging by the look on her face.

"Well this is… unusual." Kakashi sighed.

"I can shut up if you like. I'm usually much less chatty anyway." I shrugged. It wasn't as if giving them helpful hints for the future would become a matter of life or death. Or would it? I thought about Gaara getting captured by Diedara, the Third Hokage dying, Sasuke leaving the Leaf Village… Not neccesarily in that order...

"So Elli… you said you wanted to learn to walk on water?" Kakashi had this weird look in his visible eye, like he was calculating something in his distant little mind. Unfortunately I couldn't hear the thoughts that would tell me exactly what he was thinking. This wasn't one the times he was going to spill his guts by informing me what he had up his sleeve. Bummer.

"Yeeees…?" I drawled expectantly. Suddenly I was kind of regretful that I'd said anything at all.

"Well then," Kaka-sensei said with this creepy smile forming around the one part of his face I could see, "let's see what you've got, then."

**A/N: **Thank you for reading! Hope you enjoyed! Please comment/review, I love love feedback! Remember to check out the full story on Hina's profile! :D


	3. Chapter Two Defying Gravity

_(Author's Note: I am officially bagging my disclaimers. Why? Because, let's not kid ourselves – I do not own Naruto. And I never will. Sad thought T^T Oh well. But enjoy the chapter anyways! I tried to make it funnier, but Elli is supposed to be a sort of "sophisticated" character. She's like me – not naturally very funny, whether in actions or thoughts -.- I wish I was like Bobbitt. She has a natural sense of humor. Ah. Anyways, enjoy! :3)_

**Chapter Two**

**Defying Gravity**

:.~*.|.|.*~.:

I stared blankly up at the impossibly tall tree in front of me. Its bark was obviously slippery – I mean, it had no _texture _for Pete's sake! What sort of _footholds _would one expect on some impersonation of an oak tree, or whatever else it was supposed to be! Not that that mattered or anything…

"Are you sure about this?" I asked uncertainly, casting Kakashi-sensei a quick look. He was staring at me intently, his arms crossed. Naturally. This sort of thing was something that every young Shinobi had to learn. And of course it came before walking on water. I'd set myself up on that one.

"I thought you could see the future? Don't you know how this will end?" Sasuke asked with that stupid arrogant look of his plastered all over his frustratingly attractive face. If I didn't have the remnants of my first crush on him (which lasted until he turned evil, the jerkhead) I probably would have killed him at that moment. Or at least kicked him again. I glared at him, ignoring his taunts. _Just you wait, Sasuke – misery is coming. Very soon. _I thought sourly.

"I can't see anything related to myself." I retorted, surprised but content with my quickly devised excuse. The Chunin Exams hadn't happened yet, so I could safely reason he was in for it and the look on his face gave me a grim feeling of satisfaction. I thought about the possibility I would be able to see the Exams. Did that mean I would get to meet Gaara…? My heart did an annoying little skitter at the thought. I sighed and shook my head. I had to concentrate. Stupid boys. Stupid attractive anime boys.

"Any day now would be good." Kakashi pointed out in his trademark nonchalant voice. I nodded and took a deep breath. Then another. Jumping into a river when I could swim was one thing, but defying gravity… was another. I steeled myself against the instincts that told me running up a tree was nigh impossible. I knew I was about to do probably the most stupid thing I had ever done in my entire life. _Man, _I thought, _Seventeen years wasted because of gravity!_

I took a step forward, then sprinted towards the tree with everything I had. I found that I could feel the energy churning inside me – actually physically _feel _it. It was out of balance, I could tell. Somehow my brain knew what to do, as if I were walking or jumping – it was instinctual, like I had done it a million times. My body obeyed these weird instincts and I threw myself against the tree, running up the side of it. I slowed to a stop, stunned to find myself hanging upside-down on one of the tree's very high limbs.

"Impressive!" Kakashi called up to me. I wondered if I would be able to do other things I'd seen in Naruto. I thought through some of the techniques and then shrugged and dropped down from the tree. I landed on the ground without feeling that annoying jolt through my limbs that I would have in my world. Yeah, take that, gravity!

"So… walking on water now?" I asked Kaka-sensei eagerly.

"I suppose it's worth a try," he responded with a slight shrug of his shoulders. He motioned back towards the river, and I followed him with an excited sound that resembled something like "eeg!"

"Hey, Elli," Naruto said as he caught up to us, "Can I ask you something?"

"Yeeeees?" I asked, drawing the world out as I smiled at him.

"How old are you?"

"Seventeen," I replied automatically. His eyes seemed to grow wide enough to fall off his face. Luckily anime wasn't quite t_hat _exaggerated. Although if I was in Avatar (The Last Airbender… darn you James Cameron!), I would have to wonder if his eyes wouldn't actually pop out of his skull… It was possible. Maybe.

"I know," I said, "I look younger than I am. Always have, probably always will." I grinned impishly at him, sort of morbidly pleased by the astonished look on his whisker-striped noggin. Were those whiskers? They looked sort of like whiskers. _Maybe they're tattoos. _I pondered.

"So was that really your first time balancing your chakras?" I didn't need to listen to his innermost thoughts to know why Naruto was asking. I could still remember the painfully long episode where he and Sasuke kept trying to climb up the tree and how they fell down pretty much every time. _That puts me on Sakura's level… which is a fact that sort of makes me sad yet proud at the same time. _I thought.

"Yes. Yes it was." I replied. He sighed but didn't say anything – well, duh, why would he? Even hyperactive, knuckleheaded ninjas have a sense of pride. _Boys._

"Here we are," Kakashi announced. As if I couldn't see the glistening river by which I had appeared into this world. I looked at the water and wondered what exactly I would have to do to be able to walk on it. I'd rather not get myself all wet again – even if I had dried off ridiculously fast from that first ill thought out leap.

"It's the same concept," Kaka-sensei was saying, "Just balance the energy inside you so that the chakra builds up in your feet and there you have it!" I nodded, staring at the unmoving water and thinking that it _wasn't _a surprise that I had the potential walk on it. It didn't move like water in _my _world did. It was like glass. Nice, blue, wet glass…

"Any day now," Sakura said impatiently. I gave her a look that said _get off my back woman _and closed my eyes, pressing my hands together sort of like Ed from FMA probably would. Oh yes. When you're about to defy the laws of nature and science, you should always pray first. Or so my posture seemed to suggest.

"Here goes nothin'…" I muttered, taking a step out onto the water – no more jumping into rivers for me. At least for now. I was satisfied that only my ankles got wet before I figured out how to balance the weird bubbling energy inside my body. I walked across the surface slowly, getting used to the feeling of the chakra flowing in my feet. It was a strange feeling, like a tingly liquid moving back and forth along the arch of my feet, warm and buzzing and slightly irritating. It was at that moment I was suddenly struck with the impossibility of my actions. I looked over my shoulder and smiled at Kakashi, who seemed pleased with my progress. At least I wasn't taking as long as Naruto did to learn this skill. I wandered along the river for a little, soon joined by Kakashi and Sasuke. Sakura caught up with us and Naruto ran along the bank, looking sort of disgruntled since he was the only one who couldn't take a Jesus-stroll.

"Come on, Naruto! Give it a shot." I called, running back towards him. The water gurgled happily where I'd stepped on it, one of its only signs of life. Naruto, standing on the bank forlornly, stopped and stared at me as if I were crazy.

"I'm not that good at balancing my chakra…" He said hesitantly. Suddenly I was thinking of Avatar again… Was it chakra or chugras? I couldn't remember.

"Well, until today, I didn't know I _had_ chakra, so it shouldn't be impossible for you to learn. Come on!" I smiled and motioned for him to join me. It took a lot of patience and explaining, but finally I was able to show Naruto how to walk on water. Kakashi watched, looking aloof with his hands in his pockets and his expression hidden behind that darned mask. Sakura seemed surprised, and Sasuke was indifferent as always.

"Wow! I'm doing it!" Naruto exclaimed, watching his feet floating on top of the water with wide eyes. I smiled and nodded, feeling excited for him and a bit smug. I'd been in the Naruto world for an hour at best and I'd already managed to screw with the plotline. Take that, fate!

"You're a good teacher. You seem to understand the concept well." Kakashi noted.

"Well, I've always been good at rearranging and explaining my thoughts," I mused with a shrug. I could hear the wheels in Kakashi-sensei's head turning (almost literally, with the whole spoken thoughts thing), and knew something was going to happen. Just what this "something" was, I didn't know yet - but I could tell I _would_ know soon. Heh.

"So you've come from a long ways off, right, Elli?" I looked at Kaka-sensei through narrowed eyes. What was he trying to do, make me admit I was a spy from the Village Hidden in Some Inconspicuous Element or Object?

"Yeees…" I said warily.

"You came to study to be a ninja, didn't you?" Naruto exclaimed, his eyes wide. I looked at him and then at Kakashi. That seemed to be the general consensus in their minds. Well, that explanation fit my current scenario better than telling them I'd been thrown into their world through a bright light whereas before, in my world, they'd just been fictional characters. Yeah. Better to stick with the _"psychic"_ thing.

"Yes," I said monotonously. "I'm psychic and all so I saw a vision that I'd come here and learn. To be a ninja." Wow, was I good at pulling stuff out of nowhere. Usually I sucked at impromptu crap. I wished I had a hat just so I could pretend to pull something out of it – that would've been pretty funny. Except for the Leaf ninja, since they probably wouldn't understand the idiom. At all.

"How'd you get into the village?" Naruto asked. I looked at him.

"Eh? What?"

"If you're from a different village how did you get in here without coming through the main gate?" Sakura clarified. Uh oh. That'd be a tough one to weasel my way out of.

"I couldn't find the front of your danged wall so I climbed your mountain and made my way here for some reason." I replied, thinking my excuse lame but at least tolerably adequate. Kakashi looked at me with that face again – the one that went O.-

"So you would rather climb a mountain than look for a door?" He asked disbelievingly.

"Call me old-fashioned." I said sarcastically.

"We can't let random ninja into the village unannounced," Sasuke, ever the duckbutthead, said with a glare aimed my way, "We should report her. She could be a spy."

"I could be," I said, my eyebrows rising a few inches, "Or I could be an innocent young girl hoping to learn from the best." They all looked at me suspiciously. I couldn't really blame them – well, duh, I couldn't – but it was sort of irritating being doubted every second of the day. As if I wasn't considered weird enough back home.

"Ah for the love of roast beef," I said crossly, "Could you just make up your minds if you want to report me or not? 'Cause if you want me gone I'll just go to the Sand Village to find Gaara. At least their entrance is properly advertised." I said, sticking my nose in the air. I crossed my arms and stuck one foot out, twirling around on the other to walk off into the unknown.

"What village do you come from?" Kakashi asked.

"It's a small one," I replied, thinking, "Kind of far off. It's called… the Village Hidden in the Lakes." I had to work to keep from bursting out into laughter. _I'm a genius. _

"I've never heard of it." Sakura said suspiciously.

"As I said. Small. As in there's pretty much no one to teach poor little old moi how to use her chakra." In fact, I was pretty sure there would _never _be someone in Minnesota to help me learn that particular talent.

"I think we should take her to the Hokage," Naruto said. Kakashi looked me up and down, deliberating. I couldn't hear his thoughts, so I was on pins and needles wondering what he would say. Would he kick me out? I may be given the chance to go to the Sand Village, but it was a three days journey to even get there. Not to mention I didn't know where it was exactly. To the west or other if my memory was to be trusted. Which it almost _never_ is.

"Alright," he said, "I will take her to see the Hokage." Something between relief and dread filled me at hearing this. The Third Hokage… The stupid butterflies wouldn't leave my stomach as I followed Team 7 out of the training grounds. The woods were pretty quiet, except for a constant knocking sound. I saw Rock Lee kicking a post, calling out numbers that were so high I thought he _must _be bluffing. But then, it was _Rock Lee_. He didn't notice us as we walked by. Too bad. I would have wanted to take the honor of first dubbing him "bushy-brows". The Hokage's building was very red against the pale tans and browns of Mount Konamore (A). Kakashi opened the door and led me inside. The interior of the building reminded me of the Oni Island fortress on Okami (B). It was quiet, with only a few shinobi standing about in small groups, whispering or talking over stacks of paperwork. I wondered how many shinobi were hiding in the ceiling. It seemed an illogically logical place for Anbu to be crawling around. As we were walking, I suddenly found myself lost in thought, as sometimes happened with me. If I were to train as a shinobi, what sort of dangers would I face? I wasn't afraid of fighting, _per say._ But I certainly didn't like the_ idea_ of it. Video games, self-defense training, and beating on annoying brothers couldn't really prepare me for the real thing. _Intense combat_… The thought made my stomach drop into the soles of my boots. Kakashi ushered me into a narrow hallway, where two shinobi stood talking.

"He'll be back from his mission soon," one of them was saying. Upon closer examination, I saw that the one on the left was a slightly familiar ninja with a narrow face, bandages across his nose, and spiky dark hair. The other was a sight that instantly brought tears to my eyes and caused my throat to tighten up. I froze in place, staring.

"Asuma-sensei…" I choked, feeling like I wanted to run forward and hug him. I've always been a shy person. But I'd also always been a hugger. And in the end, I guess emotion won out. I rushed forward and threw my arms around Asuma's waist.

"Oh! Um… hello…" Asuma said, looking down at me curiously. I sighed, letting go and backtracking to where Kakashi stood, staring at me with his one eye.

"Sorry about that… It's been a pretty... _rough_ day and I guess I needed a hug." I murmured, shrugging. Kakashi was looking at me still, and I was suddenly worried that he was suspecting me. I'd told him I was psychic, but it seemed that only Naruto was stupid enough to believe it. But did Kakashi _really_ think I knew the future? I sure as heck hoped not. I didn't want to be subjugated to interrogation on the mere account of _"knowing"_ something about Asuma's future. Or maybe everyone's future. It depends on how you look at it.

"That's quite alright," Asuma said, being the awesome ninja I'd always known him to be. He looked curiously at Kakashi, his expression asking who I was and what I was doing here.

"She wants to study to become a shinobi. She's come from the…" Kakashi narrowed his eye and looked at me.

"Village Hidden in the Lakes," I supplied. "Our training system is about as successful as scientific theory… which is to say _generally..._ not at all."

"I don't remember her checking in at the front desk…?" The bandaged-nosed shinobi said, looking at me closely. Did his name start with a K? I was pretty sure it did... Or maybe an H?

"I couldn't find the front gate." I said, laughing nervously.

"Apparently she climbed over the_ 'back door,'" _Kakashi explained, looking bemused. Asuma seemed surprised at this revelation – and why not? Climbing a mountain seemed a dumb and irrational thing to do when there was a _door._ But I was too embarrassed to comment.

"Well, I wish you luck." He said at last, smiling at me. I thanked him and then Kakashi resumed our trek to the Hokage's office. I looked over my shoulder and saw Asuma was watching me, an intent expression on his face as he balanced a cigarette in between his teeth. I felt a pang in my heart and wished I could ignore the knowledge that I had about this place. These people. I sighed and turned my attention back to Kakashi. We walked up two flights of stairs and down numerous halls until we finally found the doors to the Hokage's personal office. I gulped nervously, sticking close to Kakashi and wondering why Naruto and Sakura hadn't come along. I'd even accept company from Sasuke, if it meant more people between myself and one of the most legendary and awesome ninja in the first five episodes of the show.

"Come in," a low voice said in response to Kakashi's knocking. He opened the door and led me through. I took a deep breath and followed him in. I felt as if someone had nailed my feet into the floor as soon as I saw him. Sitting behind his desk, with his round hat set beside him and his wise old eyes staring at me…

Was the Third Hokage.

* * *

_Author's Note:_

(A): This is a reference to Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. I thought that the faces of the Leaf Village greatly resembled that of America's presidents =w=

(B): Okami is a video game on the PS2 and Wii where you get to play as the wolfy Japanese sun goddess, Amaterasu. Oni Island is where the dreaded Ninetails lives. In this comparison I'm mostly referring to the games and mazes on the way to the fortress's top. Poor scrap...

Anyways, thank you for reading TOAS! Sorry my updates have been so sporadic. I'd completed seven chapters and then they were erased, so I was loathe to begin writing them all over again with nothing but my crummy notes to go by -.- Darn you computer! Well, I hope you like the chapter anyway. Well, thanks for reading and please PLEASE comment! :D


	4. Chapter Three Sensei and Squads

_Author's Note: I don't own Naruto. The end. Hahaha._

**Tale of a Shadow**

**Chapter Three**

**Sensei and Squads **

_**|.~*././.*~.|**_

The Third Hokage looked at me intently as he set his paperwork aside. His face looked somehow older in real life, but it looked wiser, too. His eyes were dark and intense, and being the object of their interest was a bit uncomfortable for me. I wish he'd been wearing his dumb hat. At least then I could have found his appearance slightly comical. Now I had nothing but seriousness. And it freaked me out.

"Kakashi. How can I help you?" Sarotobi asked. The Hokage looked from me to Kakashi and back again. Had he suddenly pinned me as a lunatic? A misbehaving young child that was worthy of punishment? But surely I didn't look _that _much like a young kid. I was seventeen, and that translated to like nineteen in this world as far as appearances went. At _least. _

"This girl came from the Village Hidden in the Lakes to study how to become a shinobi. Her name is Elli." Kakashi motioned to me and I straightened under the Hokage's watchful gaze. The smell of smoke filled the room, making my throat and eyes sting. _Dang._ Why did old guys have to smoke?

"I see. And where exactly is this _Village Hidden in the Lakes?" _Drat, he was on to me. I thought about that for a moment and then figured I'd wing it.

"It's northwest of the Village Hidden in the Rocks," I said, aiming for the country farthest from where I stood at that moment. The Third Hokage looked at me through narrowed eyes a moment, and then leaned back with a sigh.

"Very well," he said. "And do you have a message or notice from the leader of your village?" Oh. I should have thought of that. I shuffled my feet nervously and bowed my head.

"N-no…" I stammered, "It was all sort of sudden… I… sort of ran away." I said, trying to look ashamed of myself even if this wasn't quite the truth. It certainly _had _been sudden. But the only time I'd ever run away was when I was four. And even then it had been to the barn loft… which was maybe forty or fifty feet from my house. Tops.

"Why?" The Hokage asked. I could feel Kakashi's eyes on me. This wasn't exactly what I'd told him. But hey, excuses were difficult to come up with. And I hated lying. So what could I do?

"I just felt kinda… trapped, I guess. Like everyone was looking down on me. We didn't have anyone to train me there, besides people who mastered Taijutsu. But my talents don't really lie there, so I was… a misfit, I guess…" I said, weaving some of my real misgivings into my intricately woven tale. I wondered what it would be like, to live in a ninja village and feel worthless. Couldn't be much different from the real life I lived before I met all my friends. Thoughts of them filled my head – Ashley, behind the steering wheel, Rachel talking with a wide smile on her face, Acacia's loud voice, Emily as sarcastic as ever as Becky talked enthusiastically about her little Usa-chan plushie in that way only Becky could. Then I found I was actually _crying. _Why, I'm not sure. Maybe it was the thought that I'd never see them again. Maybe I was just crying because I was really happy I'd met them. I didn't really know at that moment. But somehow, it didn't matter so much the _reason_. All that mattered to me was that I was here, and my friends were nowhere to be seen.

"I see." The Hokage apparently saw _something _in my face. He smiled kindly at me, laying his hands on his desk as he leaned back slightly.

"I don't see why you can't train here. But you must swear loyalty to the Leaf Village."

"Always," I said, "Unless pigs fly or Danzo becomes Hokage." They looked at me funny and I shrugged. "It could happen."

"Well, why don't you take her to get some gear, Kakashi? In the meantime, I will consider which squad she will be assigned to. I hope you will not protest against being placed with students younger than yourself?" He looked at me with his eyebrows raised slightly.

"Not at all," I replied. In fact, I'd love it. It meant that I could maybe somehow possibly be with characters I knew and loved. Like Naruto. Well, probably not him. Hmm…

"Alright. You are both dismissed. I will send your new squad leader to the school promptly." The Hokage said. I bowed my head respectfully and then followed Kakashi out. He was quiet as he led me through the streets to the big building that was the ninja school. Some children were running around outside, so I assumed it was "recess" time or something like that. I started wishing I'd experienced recess once in my life. I'd been homeschooled, so I was a poor sheltered child with no thorough knowledge of the outside world. Perhaps that's why I'd grown up not caring what other people thought? Perhaps that's why I was cool enough to know I'm not cool and do what I liked instead of what was socially acceptable. But before I could continue analyzing the source of my insanity, we arrived in a large empty classroom. Well, almost empty. Iruka-sensei sat at the desk, scribbling on some paper. Man, he was actually sort of cute up close. If you ignored the scar and plainness of demeanor. Which were pretty obvious. So, yeah…

"Hello, Kakashi," Iruka said, looking up, "Who's this?" Always the man to get to the point. I noticed that my headband was still around my neck. What did that make them think, a random person wearing a Leaf Village headband? Although I had to admit it looked pretty fake next to theirs. I took it off anyway, stuffing it inside my London bag. Dang, these ninja must be unobservant to not catch how ridiculous I looked. My costume was at least close to what a real ninja would wear. I hoped.

"This is Elli. She wants to become a shinobi and the Hokage has accepted her. She's a quick study." Kakashi said, smiling.

"Really?" Iruka appraised me for a moment, leaning back against his chair.

"Yes. Really." I said, smiling at him. He looked at me thoughtfully and then leaned forward again.

"All of our students must pass a test before they can become a ninja," he said.

"They have to clone themselves." I offered. He blinked and looked at me thoughtfully.

"Yes," he said at last, "That's right."

"Well Ok," I said, pressing my fingers together as I'd seen Naruto do _countless _(and I really mean countless) times. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" I gasped in surprise as my chakra flowed through me, following the course through my arms and out. There was a loud popping sound as a clone appeared beside me. I could feel its movements, tell it what to do. I was astounded.

"Holy garbanzo beans!" I cried, and my clone raised her – _my?_ – eyebrows at me.

"What?" She – _I? – _asked.

"Wow," Kakashi stated. I looked at him and smiled.

"Look, Kaka-sensei," I said excitedly, "I made a clone! To heck with religion and morals (A), I made a clone!" I exclaimed, and then I burst into laughter. Ah, NAS, you get me every time.

"Well done." Iruka's voice broke into my reverie. I blinked and watched as he reached into his drawer. He pulled out… I gasped. A _real Leaf Village headband! _As he offered it to me, I could already feel the waterworks starting. My eyes pricked as I took it in my hands, feeling the soft blue material. How much better could this day get?

"Kakashi, Iruka? I've been told my new student would be here." Apparently a lot better. I turned around along with the two ninja and saw my new squad leader. He looked at me with a surprised expression and then smiled, balancing his cigarette in between his teeth expertly.

"Ah," he said, "We meet again."

"Asuma-sensei…" I murmured, seriously wondering if I was going to start sobbing or something. I wiped away some stray tears and smiled at him.

"Yes, that's me. Are you ready to come meet your teammates?" He grinned at me with that kind face of his, making my heart ache all over again. Dang it. As if watching him die would be even better as one of his students. Fate. Cruel, cruel fate. And then I thought about what he'd asked me. My teammates… And the light bulb of my mind suddenly lit up. Shikamaru! Choji! Not-so-much-Ino-but-oh-well!

"Am I ever!" I exclaimed, my eyes lighting up.

"Let me guess," Kakashi said in my ear, "You know them from your _visions_, too?"

"Sure," I said over my shoulder, "Choji is a teddy bear, Shikamaru is a genius who can't seem to understand how chess works, and Ino is… well, let's not get into that." He blinked in surprise, as if it were really that astounding that I knew Asuma's team so well. It wasn't, considering they were one of my favorite squads in Naruto. But then, how was he supposed to know I'd read their whole life story?

"Alright, let's go, then," Asuma said. I followed him willingly, tying my headband around my neck. It'd always been the most comfortable place for it before. I'd find some not-so-Hinata-like way to wear it later. Asuma led me through the streets as silently as Kakashi had. Man, these adults didn't like idle chatter, did they? I looked up and saw Naruto's apartment. I smiled, thinking of his cute sleeping hat and all the sour milk he probably had in his fridge. Ah, Naruto. He was probably the most scatterbrained hero I'd ever heard of. And then I thought of Tamaki (B). Maybe not.

"Ah, here we are." I blinked in surprise. This was Ino's house! What were we doing _here?_

"You don't have a place to stay, right?" Asuma asked, turning to me.

"Uh, no, I don't," I replied, not really liking where this was going. He smiled and then knocked on the door. We were let in by Ino's mom. She looked kind of like Ino, I guess. Though from what I remembered, the hairstyle was all daddio's. I stood respectfully by while Asuma explained the situation to Mrs. Yamanaka, waiting for the decision that could possibly ruin the day that had so far been going fabulously.

"Of course she can stay! Ino would be happy to share her room!" Mrs. Yamanaka said. And thusly my day was ruined. But I decided not to think about that for now. I busied myself by looking through the pouch Asuma-sensei had given me with all the cool ninja tools inside it. I took out a kunai and stared at it for about a minute, maybe. I noticed that Asuma and Mrs. Yamanaka had stopped talking and were watching me.

"Sorry," I said, "I've only seen these on TV." I put it back in the buttpouch, as my friends and I called it, and turned my attention back to the adults.

"You will stay here with Ino's family." Asuma said.

"Thanks," I offered, smiling at Mrs. Yamanaka. It wasn't _her _fault her daughter was a female dog.

"Mom? Who's here?" The devil herself came down the stairs, looking at me with curious eyes. Asuma sensei turned and smiled at her.

"The Hokage has elected this girl to join Squad 10. She comes from the Village Hidden in the Lakes."

"Name's Elli," I offered. She smiled tentatively.

"I'm Ino," she said. I nodded, keeping my fake smile plastered on my face. Just smile and wave, boys. Smile and wave (C).

"Shall we go fetch the other two?" Asuma-sensei suggested. I nodded. Ino's mother said goodbye and told me she was happy I'd be staying with her. I was pleased to find she wasn't as prissy as her daughter. That would have been a tough situation. I walked alongside Ino as we went to get the next member of Squad 10. The silence was deafening, but I wasn't exactly inclined to make conversation.

"So why do you want to become a ninja, Elli?" Ino asked suddenly. I looked at her.

"Why not? Ninjas are awesome! Besides, what's the point of falling into this universe if I don't take advantage of it?" I asked, shrugging. She stared at me for a moment and then frowned.

"Right," she murmured.

"Hey, Elli!" I turned and saw Naruto walking with Sakura and Sasuke. I smiled as he approached.

"Yo, sup Naruto?" He reached out his hand and I obligingly gave him a high five. We laughed together and then I realized everyone else was staring at me. I coughed.

"Sakura," I acknowledged. My eyes narrowed.

"Emo Duckbutt," I growled. Sasuke flinched, much to my satisfaction. Ino glanced at me, surprised. Apparently a girl not falling for Sasuke was a marvel.

"You all know each other?" Ino asked.

"We met her at the training grounds. She taught me to walk on water!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Ah, yes." I said nervously, twiddling a lock of my hair as I tried to ignore the fact that Asuma and Ino were staring at me.

"She's also psychic!" Naruto said in a low voice, as if he were being secretive. "Quick, Elli, who does Ino have a crush on?" Naruto demanded.

"Sasuke. That's easy." I replied, frowning at him.

"What're the names of your new teammates?" Sakura tried.

"Well Ino," I gestured to the girl beside me, ignoring her staring, "Choji, and Shikamaru. Choji has a weight problem, though it's mostly because of his techniques. Shikamaru is a virtual genius but he's such a lazy butt he never does anything with it. If I had an IQ of 200 who knows what'd I do?" I mused. Naruto turned to my gawking teammate and my equally surprised sensei.

"See what I mean?" He laughed. I blushed.

"Would you stop that?" I snapped.

"You don't _have _to answer." Sasuke pointed out.

"Well, it's a reaction. Whenever someone asks me about something I like I spew the answer out like nobody's business." I muttered, embarrassed.

"Let me try," Ino said quickly, "Who does Sasuke like?" I burst out laughing.

"You _would _ask that! I honestly have no idea. I think he only likes himself." I mused. I glanced at Sasuke, "Am I right?" He frowned at me but said nothing. Ino seemed a bit satisfied, in some perverse way, with my answer. I guess she was figuring that at least it wasn't some other girl.

"She can tell the future, too," Naruto said. I looked at him with wide eyes, wishing he'd shut up. Man, why did Naruto have to be so gullible?

"The future?" Ino asked, looking at me with a surprised expression.

"Sort of," I said, "I know how certain… events… will end." I looked at Asuma for a moment and then sighed sadly.

"Like what?" He asked quietly.

"There are a lot of things I know," I said, "And not all of them are pleasant." I shrugged.

"Will I get ramen tomorrow for lunch?" Naruto asked. I looked at him.

"Naruto, you always get ramen for lunch."

"You're right!" He said, his eyes wide. I sighed and shook my head.

"For a smart guy you really are dumb." I muttered.

"Who said he was smart?" Sakura asked, one eyebrow raised.

"You should see him fight Kakuzu. That was awesome." I said. "Er, I suppose the correct term is _will be _awesome."

"Who's Kakuzu?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, you'll find out eventually." I brushed him away, not really feeling like spoiling the entire series. I thought about Kakuzu and looked back at Asuma. My throat felt all tight. Dang you, Naruto, asking such questions!

"All I can say," I muttered, "Is that I hate Hidan. Now let us be off." I gestured to Asuma-sensei. He nodded. We all said goodbye to Team 7 and then continued our trek in silence. We stopped at Shikamaru's house – I recognized it from Shippuden. While Asuma went to get him, I remained behind with Ino.

"So do you _really _see the future?" Ino asked.

"I know the future. It's not quite the same as seeing it." I amended.

"How do you know?"

"I just do." I said, "Though only to a certain point. It's like… like I'm reading a book about everything that happens here, and I don't have the sequel. I don't know how everything will end. I just know some facts along the way." I said.

"And the characters," Ino added quietly.

"Oh yes, and that. I'm sorry to tell you that I'm a ShikaTema forever." I told her, bowing my head apologetically. She frowned at me, not understanding, but I just smirked and left it at that. Asuma came out, followed by a sleepy-eyed boy that was _way_ cuter in person than in the show – which is saying something.

"So you must be Elli?" He said, glancing at me.

"Shikamaru," I acknowledged, nodding to him. He blinked.

"She's psychic, apparently," Ino said, smiling. I liked how she seemed to just go along with the explanation instead of doubting it like Sakura or believing it religiously like Naruto. I laughed and shook my head.

"Something like that," I murmured.

"I see," Shika said, looking me over. He smiled lazily and then turned to Asuma-sensei. With a nod from sensei, we were off again.

"So, Elli," Shikamaru said, and I was immediately steeling myself for the worst, "Tell me some of what you've 'seen' with your psychic abilities?"

"You are a lazy bum with an IQ over 200." I replied evenly. He glanced at me with a frown on his face.

"Well you got the lazy right." Ino said smugly.

"No, they're both right. Just wait until the Chunin exams. Then you'll see." I nodded. Shikamaru frowned and looked at me more closely, as if gauging just how much I knew about him. I turned and my eyes widened.

"Hey, Hinata!" I exclaimed. The girl started and turned, her eyes wide. She blinked and looked at me, confused.

"Do I know you?" She asked nervously.

"Nah," I said, shrugging, "But I know Naruto." A blush rose up in her cheeks. Did she always d that when someone mentioned her crush? I leaned forward so that she alone would hear me.

"Just so you know," I said, "Sakura will probably never like him much more than she does now. I think you have a good chance, despite sort of behaving like a stalker. Good luck!" I winked and then continued on after Asuma-sensei, ignoring my two teammates and Hinata, who were staring at me. Everyone stared in this world. What was with that?

"Hey, Elli?" I turned to Ino. "What did you mean when you said Sasuke only loves himself?"

"He's heartless." I replied point-blank. She looked at me with wide eyes. "Well, probably not _now," _I amended, "But he will be. Trust." I sighed, looking down at my feet.

"You don't like Sasuke?" This fact seemed to surprise Shika. What the crap _didn't _surprise these people? Samurai flying from bushes? And yet one girl not having a crush on the eye candy seems an absurdity. What a whacky place I'd fallen into.

"Nope. Not at all. He could go fall in a pit for all I care." I replied. I turned and saw Asuma knocking on another door. A chubby lady emerged and I recognized her as Choji's mom. I tensed, my eyes widening.

"What is it, Elli?" Shikamaru asked.

"Choji…" I murmured.

"Yes, that's his house…?" Ino said warily. At that moment, he emerged. He turned to us, a wide smile on his face. He was so _cute! _

"Holy frijoles!" I cried, "Choji!" I ran forward and threw my arms around his neck, smiling. "Choji!" I said again.

"Um… hello… person I don't know…" Choji said warily. He turned to Shikamaru. "Why is she hugging me?"

"I asked the same question," Asuma-sensei said, looking amused. I looked at him.

"I hugged you because I missed you," I said. "I hug Choji because he's a teddy bear that deserves to be hugged. Different reasons." Asuma, Ino, and Shika laughed. Choji just blushed from where he stood, trapped in my arms.

"How old are you, anyway?" He asked.

"Seventeen." I replied. "And I've been seventeen for a while, in case you're wondering." I smirked.

"Ok…" He said warily. "You _do _know I'm thirteen, right?"

"Yep, I am aware," I replied.

"So why are you hugging me?"

"It's not that I'm not attracted to you," I said in a businesslike manner, "But you come second to certain… _other… _people." I reached into my bag and pulled out my Gaara plushie. I pointed to it.

"He gets first. Every time. I'm sorry." I bowed my head and then perked up. "But I won't meet him for some time yet, so let's enjoy the time we have to be snuggly, shall we?" I ruffled his hair and then returned to Ino and Shika, laughing at the embarrassed look on Choji's face.

"Hey, Elli…" I turned to Shikamaru as we began making our way to the training grounds. The prospect of finally unleashing some of my pent up energy was appeasing. I was already so wired up I couldn't help myself and had to hug every character that I loved – Naruto, Asuma, Choji. If Gaara showed up now I'd probably be toast.

"Yes, Shikamaru?" I asked, smiling.

"What's a frijole?"

* * *

Author's Note:

(A): This is referring to a quote from the Naruto Abridged series by Vegeta3986 and MasakoX. In the original quote, Naruto asks "but isn't cloning against religion and morals?" and Iruka replies "We're ninjas – we don't have those things".

(B): Tamaki from Ouran High school Host Club. He is scatterbrained. If you don't know that, take my word for it.

(C): Quote from Madagascar. The penguins. Good times.

And for those who don't know, frijoles means 'beans' in Spanish. So when I say holy frijoles I'm really saying holy beans. Yep. And in case you're wondering, I really do say things like holy frijoles and holy garbanzo beans in real life.

Thanks for reading the chapter! I hope you enjoyed! Please please PLEASE review! I love you all! v I'd give you a hug, too, but after Choji I'm all maxed out v.v Adios!

-LR


	5. Chapter Four Shadow User

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Or shadows. Or Gaara (awww... T^T). But I do own my character. Yeah. Anyways, thanks for reading and please enjoy! :)

**Chapter Four**

**Shadow-user**

**.~./~./~./.~.**

The sound of the wind bustling through the eaves of the trees filled my ears, distracting me. I turned to watch Asuma-sensei talking with Shikamaru. They seemed to be organizing how our squad would be training from now on. After all, I was less experienced than my teammates, despite being older. Dread filled me for a moment at the thought of what I'd have to do to become a ninja as confident and skilled as they were. They had their whole lives to train for the moment I'd never even imagined I would experience. And now, I was like a fish out of water, struggling to adapt to land before I suffocated.

"Alright, then," Asuma-sensei said, making me start. "Shikamaru will be Elli's personal tutor. He will teach you the basics and try some techniques. Every shinobi should have a good technique to fall back on." Asuma smiled and I returned it tentatively. I was glad that Shika would be training me. I wouldn't feel guilty about taking so much of Asuma's time from my other teammates, and the genius should be able to help come up with _something _I could do efficiently.

"Ready to start, Elli?" Shikamaru asked, smiling at me in that breezy way he did. I nodded, following him to a separate part of the training grounds. I pretended that I didn't notice my sensei and other teammates were watching me, gauging my skill before I'd even begun training.

"Ok. Let's see how your chakra control is." He gestured to a tree. I sighed and looked up at it. Time for another dance with gravity, it seemed. I ran up the trunk and balanced myself on one of the branches, hanging upside down. I didn't get that dizzying rush of blood to my head I would've gotten in my world, so I could sit there and feel perfectly normal, looking at everything inversely. Then I let myself drop, landing with a gentle thud on the ground without the normal feeling of impact I'd been expecting. Man, in a world like this, one could almost believe it possible to fly!

"Good. Aim?" Shika held out a kunai. I took it and looked at a nearby target. Luckily for me, I'd always had very precise aim. I chucked the weapon and it hit the center of the target, or at least just above the red dot. I smiled in appreciation. I guess my weird talents finally had a purpose.

"Here." Shikamaru gave me three kunai this time and motioned to three separate targets. I frowned and concentrated, holding the kunai in my right hand, dangling on different fingers. I flicked my hand out, keeping my fingers curled until my hand was directed at the desired target. The first and the third hit, though the second flopped uselessly beside the third target.

"Close. Again." Shikamaru handed me more kunai. I sighed and tried once more. It took five tries to get my aim close enough to hit all three targets. Shikamaru then turned and told me to attack him.

"Any amount of moves," he said. I crouched, trying to scrape up the knowledge of sparing I'd acquire in Taekwondo. I hesitated a moment, then jumped forward with an axe kick. Shikamaru dodged with inhuman speed and was gliding behind me. I placed my foot on the ground and spun in the air, doing an autobahn kick with more accuracy than I'd ever managed before. Perhaps the reason was because in this world I felt virtually weightless. Techniques that had been extremely difficult before were now possible, if not easy. Shika ducked to dodge my attack. I let my weight drop into my foot and sent a kick down at his back. He caught my foot and moved forward to strike my leg out from under me. I placed my hands on his back and flipped backward in the air, moving with a momentum I'd never experienced before. I was amazed at how my body moved, seemingly knowing what to do even though I'd rarely practiced moves like these before. I landed flat on the balls of my feet, alert and ready for Shika to attack again. Suddenly I found I couldn't move.

"Ah! Dang it! Stupid cheap Shadow Possession!" I said, sighing in defeat.

"I'd ask how you know my technique but I'm pretty sure I already know." Shika said, smiling at me from where he crouched. I shrugged.

"Psychic."

"Well," he said, straightening and releasing his shadowy hold on me, "Besides being a bit unobservant you're not a bad mover. Some practice will help that." He grinned at me lazily and I smiled back, feeling a bit elated at his somewhat-praise. I couldn't expect much more from a somewhat-awesome ninja like him.

"Thank you _so _much," I said sarcastically with a mock bow.

"I don't suppose you know what type you are?" _Type? _My little inner voice echoed. I thought about that for a moment_. Oh, my _jutsu _type! _Cue the hovering light bulb.

"No," I replied slowly, "No idea."

"Your parents'?" He tried.

"No idea."

"Relatives, friends…? Anything…?" Shikamaru was enjoying this deep down, I could see it.

"Nope."

"Do you even know what I mean?" He arched one of his eyebrows at me skeptically.

"Yes. I may be sheltered but I'm not an _idiot." _I said, huffing.

"Well, we'll just have to try some techniques and see what we come up with then." The way he looked at me made me think this wasn't going to go well.

First Shika tried to show me a Fire Jutsu technique. He was a thorough teacher, telling me exactly where my hands should go and how I should balance my chakras. I didn't expect much less from a genius. I cast a nervous glance back at Asuma-sensei, but he was watching Choji and Ino spar. Yay. I didn't have to worry about a larger-than-Shika audience witnessing any disastrous outcome my attempt at Fire Jutsu may invoke. I put my hands together and made the sign Shika had shown me, saying the words and feeling my chakra respond. Only instead of channeling itself the way I _wanted _it to, it sort of sputtered with something like a forceful shove and I fell back on my butt, startled at the feeling of shock that had buzzed through me.

"So not Fire," Shikamaru said, looking down at me with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Yeah, no duh," I muttered. He offered me his hand and I accepted it, letting him help me onto my feet again. I sighed and closed my eyes, ignoring the throbbing pain that filled my veins. I _would _figure out what Type I was, never mind all this stupid backfiring!

"Water," Shikamaru interrupted my thoughts and self-mobilizing, showing me more hand signs and making me repeat new words. He explained how it would feel, how I should react, blah, blah, blah. It was all really complicated and I didn't remember most of it. And that could be because the reaction of my chakra was worse than it had been with the Fire Jutsu. This time it seemed to flare up and I sort of had to curl up on the ground until it stopped. I almost wanted to give up after that second time. But I got up again and tried a Wind Type Jutsu. Needless to say it was a flunk. I tried Earth, Lightning, and some other third thing. Finally I collapsed, my head between my knees as I let out a huge breath.

"Just admit it," I sighed, "I may have good chakra control but I'm pretty much hopeless when it comes to anything aside from shadow clones and-"

"Wait!" Shikamaru exclaimed, stopping my pessimistic rant.

"What?" I asked irritably.

"You made a shadow clone?"

"Yeah, what about it?" I fixed him with my skeptical gaze, wondering if he'd make me do something more painful than the shock of the lightning technique.

"Hmm… Do you know any shadow techniques?" I thought about that for a moment. Shadow techniques…

"Well, I know yours," I said.

"Try it, then," he urged. I looked at him with my eyebrows raised. Try _Shikamaru's _technique? Shadow Possession? Yeah, right! Like I could do that! I wondered if I would become clinically depressed if I tried a Shadow Technique. At this rate, it seemed likely.

"Okay, okay," I muttered when he crossed his arms and nodded to me, "I'll do it." I stood up and brushed the dirt from my pants. I took a deep breath and then flipped my hair over my shoulder. I made the Shadow Possession hand sign and said the familiar words (I'd only fought against Shika on Ninja Revolution a hundred times or so, not to mention the times I _was _him). I closed my eyes and waited for the pain or whatever else might come. But my chakra flowed through my body like water, nothing restraining it. It trickled from my arms and chest down to my toes. And then…

_BOOM!_

Wait... boom?Why _boom?_

That was a bad sign.

I opened my eyes and stared. Shikamaru was on the ground, staring up at me with a startled look on his face. I blinked, wondering what exactly had _happened._ And then I noticed that my shadow was _moving. _It was billowing, curling, like a wriggling fish or something. Weird.

_"Oh_ _my gosh_ are you okay?" I asked, looking down at him with huge eyes. I rushed forward and helped him onto his feet. He was rubbing his face, which had a red mark on it.

"I sort of had my eyes closed so…" I looked at Asuma-sensei, who – along with my other teammates – was staring at me like I was chopped liver or something. "Mind telling me what happened?" I finished.

"Your technique hit Shikamaru in the face and then exploded," Ino said. I stared at her blankly and then at Shikamaru and his red-marked face.

_"Crap."_ I stated, putting all my frustration into that one word. It was better than what came to my mind. I'd only sworn out loud once in my life (at a printer, nonetheless) and I wouldn't start now.

"That's it," Shikamaru said eagerly, as if he was no longer aware that his face was injured and that I'd failed miserably once again. I glared at him.

"What's it? Have you finally decided that I'm a failure?"

"No!" He said, smirking as he crossed his arms over his chest, "You're definitely a shadow-user."

"But my technique blew up." I informed him, as if he and his scraped face weren't aware of that.

"Ah, but did the other techniques even make it that far?" I paused and reflected that. While the shadow technique had obviously failed, at least it hadn't been painful. It had felt… right, even if the outcome was less than I'd wish.

"I guess," I said finally, shrugging.

"That shadow looked very solid," Asuma-sensei noted as he approached. Shikamaru looked up at him and grinned wryly.

"She socked the living daylights out of me. That's a very advanced technique, even more so than Shadow Possession. If she learns to control her chakra, I think her Ninjutsu will be very powerful." He said. Asuma nodded, smiling at me and patting me on the shoulder encouragingly. I looked up at him and was shocked by the expression on his face. He looked _proud. _Like I was his kid or something. I thought of what he'd said to Shikamaru. _The children are the real king… _Or something like that. I guess it was his mentality. I tried not to tear up.

"I think that's enough for today. Why don't we go get some barbeque?" At this suggestion, Choji let out an excited exclamation. Ino rolled her eyes at him while Shika nudged his friend playfully (if Shikamaru's actions can be called _playful). _I watched with a neutral expression on my face, wondering what sort of bond these three had developed as part of a squad. I'd only been here for a day and I already felt like I was connected to the people around me. How would it feel if I spent years of my life with them? I thought of my friends, the way they made me so eager to face the world and kept me sane when I'm surrounded by "normals" who think I'm an abnormality. Yeah. That must be what it was like. Only stronger, maybe, because these shinobi relied on each other to survive. Teamwork was crucial in their line of business. High school was a battleground, but what they had to face… I got shivers just thinking about it.

"Elli? Are you okay with that?" Asuma-sensei asked, smiling at me.

"Yeah," I said, looking up at him and trying not to feel overwhelmed, "Sounds great."

The smell of roasting meat filled the restaurant. It was pretty well-lit, filled with people, and was a generally very sociable place. There was a stove right in front of us sort of like the Japanese restaurant my dad had taken my family to for his birthday. But instead of a chef cooking right in front of us, we cooked the meat ourselves. I was fascinated by this, and sought to train my eye to perfection when it came to timing the cooking just right. Choji was too busy scarfing the meat to really pay attention to detail like me. Ino seemed to appreciate that I had a superior taste in cuisine (or something along those lines), and Shikamaru just stared at me while I watched my meat zealously.

"What?" I asked as I stuck another piece on my plate, cutting it and tasting. I closed my eyes, reveling in the utter bliss. If heaven had a taste, it would be something like meat.

"Are you as picky about your food as Ino?" Shika asked.

"Not really," I said, "I'll eat pretty much anything as long as it's not spicy or drenched in salt, sauce, or condiments of any kind."

"So you _are _picky?"

"If liking things plain constitutes as _picky _to you then yes. I suppose I am." I smiled at him as I took another bite. As we conversed (or _they _did; I spent most of my time eating and observing) I became aware of another familiar voice among the mingled ones of the restaurant. My eyes turned to the entrance where four figures stood. I couldn't help but glance at Asuma-sensei. A second later I wished I hadn't. It was emotional enough seeing _her _walking through the door without adding the look on my sensei's face into the mix. His eyes shone like they were alive with wildfire, and a low flush came over his cheeks as he greeted the woman and invited her and her squad to join us. I had refused myself the right to cry before that moment, no matter how depressed I was that my friends were gone, I was bruised from practicing all day, and felt as if I hadn't slept in days. I'd hoped never to become emotionally unstable enough to be unable to rein in my babyish ways. But as soon as I saw her with her long raven-black hair and rose-colored eyes, I leaned forward, tucked my face into my arms, and sobbed uncontrollably.

"Dude, is she okay?" This was Kiba's voice. I heard Akamaru bark. Wait, they let _dogs _into this restaurant? Maybe Kiba had insisted that without his dog he was as good as handicapped. It was probably true. It'd be like someone telling me I couldn't bring my right arm into the building with me. That'd be weird. And mentally scaring, maybe.

"She's fine. I think she's been through a lot in the past few days. Or day." Shikamaru said, patting my shoulder. I looked up at him and managed to staunch my tears. I sighed, looking up at Kurenai-sensei's team. They were looking at me – including Hinata, who rarely looked at anyone.

"It's you," she said, sounding a little surprised.

"Yep, it's me. How was training? Or were you following a certain someone around while your teammates actually did something?" I asked, my eyebrows rising a little. I _did _wonder about that. If she had time to stalk Naruto, then why wasn't she working to improve her awesomeness and prove female ninja are just as kick donkey as the guys? _Geez_ were women in this series stupid! Except maybe Kurenai-sensei… I looked at Asuma and Kurenai, who were talking to each other in a friendly way, though it was obvious he was digging on her and she was oblivious for the moment. Well, she could be sort of dumb, too. Sorta. Maybe.

"W-what do you mean?" Hinata stammered.

"Never mind," I sighed, "Not important." She sat down next to me, looking wary. And why not? I'd already proven I was a weirdo that knew things about her that I probably shouldn't. But for some reason I just didn't have the energy to hide the fact I _knew _things, so I decided that everyone I met would just have to deal with it. It's not like I was _really _messing with the storyline. Or… _was _I?

"Hey, who _is _she, anyway?" This question came from Kiba. I found that all eyes had turned to me for probably the billionth time that day. I looked at Kurenai-sensei, who was smiling as if she already knew. Which she probably did. Asuma had most likely conveyed my situation while I was spacing out. Or sobbing. Hmm.

"I'm Elli," I said. "I'm training to become a ninja. With Asuma-sensei. Hence the presence. At the barbeque." I said, my sentences separated by short pauses. Kiba looked at me with wide eyes. Shino sat down across from me, next to the dog-boy wonder. I couldn't see his expression behind his coat and sunglasses. Suddenly I heard that dumb song playing in the back of my head. _"I wear my sunglasses at night so I can, so I can…" _That's about all I knew, so that was about all that was running through my thoughts… Again. And again. And _again_… Talk about annoying.

"Welcome to the Hidden Leaf, Elli." Kurenai-sensei said. I met her gaze and then had to look away.

"Thanks," I muttered, giving her a slight smile. I resumed my silence, listening to all the chatting. As I nibbled on my meat, I thought about what it would be like to grow up here, around all the rules and stressful conditions and vigorous training.

"Hey, Elli, are you going to eat that?" I turned to Choji, who was gesturing to the meat on my plate.

"Are you going to eat _those?" _I asked, motioning to the dumplings he had.

"Well…" He looked undecided for a moment, then smiled, "How about a trade?"  
"Sounds good," I replied, handing him my plate and accepting two of his dumplings in return. I watched as everyone ate and laughed. I was feeling a bit… distant. It was like the feeling of being at a party and finding myself the odd girl out. I was very familiar with that feeling. I leaned my chin on my palm, sighing.

"Where do you come from, Elli?" I turned to Shino, surprised that he'd even addressed me.

"The Village Hidden in the Lakes," I replied mechanically, "It's an obscure village that's pretty far away and so small no one knows it exists. Or if they do they don't make contact because of all the moosen and apples."

"I see. How long have you wanted to be a ninja?"

"Since I was fourteen," I replied solemnly.

"That seems late," Shikamaru noted, joining our little conversation.

"Well, where I come from, no age is too late. I was training with four-year-olds and sixty-year-olds alike." I said, smiling a little at the thought. Actually, I'd first taken interest in taekwondo when I started watching Naruto in ninth grade. Ah, the irony.

"Well that's interesting!" Choji exclaimed, leaning towards me with a wide smile on his plump face. I smiled back, unable to remain grave in the presence of such a wonderful bundle of sunshine. I threw my arm around his shoulders, laughing.

"You betcha!" I said, mimicking the stereotypical Minnesotan accent pretty comically.

"Wow! That sounded weird!" Kiba noted.

"Where I come from, everyone speaks like that." I responded, nodding solemnly. I turned and saw Choji was blushing slightly, staring down at his meat. I laughed and leaned back, retracting my arm. I sighed, leaning back against my seat. I crossed my arms over my chest, staring up at the ceiling. There was that weird beeping noise again. I twitched pretty violently suddenly – more like I _convulsed – _making a loud squeaking noise that seemed to shatter the air around me. I shook my head and turned to Choji, who was looking at me with concern in his eyes.

"Are you alright, Elli?" He asked.

"Peachy," I replied, "Thanks for the concern. I get cold flashes sometimes." I replied, though I was pretty sure the weird spasm I'd experienced was _not _one of the said cold flashes. I leaned back, trying to recompose myself.

"So, Elli, what do you like to do for fun?" Hinata asked me in her quiet voice. I was a bit surprised at her openness towards me. Maybe it's because I seemed to know all of her innermost thoughts even though I'd only met her twice (or so she thought) that she decided to trust me.

"I like reading, writing, drawing, cats, Anime, manga, Asian boys, photography, and Gaara." I smiled at her cheerfully, as if everything I'd said made total sense and was not in any way strange. Which, to me, it really wasn't.

"Gaara?" Hinata echoed. I wondered why of all the things I said that was the only thing she latched onto. I thought I remembered something in Psychology class that had to do with that, but I have trouble remembering traumatic experiences, so the Class from Limbo was hard to recall. I shuddered to think of what I'd remember of my English class, which was quite unarguably the Class from Hell.

"Oh, you'll know who I mean when you see him. He's the hottest, most awesome ninja ever. And he's got a great personality." I said dreamily.

"Where is he from?" Kiba asked, looking a bit ruffled. Maybe he was hoping to challenge the "hottest, most awesome ninja ever". _Guys. _It was apparently an insult to their manhood to talk about other dudes around them.

"Oh. Here and there. You'll meet him eventually." I said, taking another bite of my delicious dumpling.

"Well, shall we head home soon, Elli?" Ino turned to me and smiled. I shrugged, then got up and said goodbye to Asuma, Kurenai, and students. I followed Ino out onto the street, my hands stuffed into the pockets of my black cargo pants. I looked up at the sky overhead and wondered what would be coming next. There was no way to tell. The thought made me more excited than I'd been in a while.

* * *

Yes I know I should be ashamed of myself for taking so long to update. But the Class from Hell (my English class) has taken over my LIFE. I barely get time to write ANYTHING, let alone fanfictions. But I'll try to keep with it. I must prevail! v.v On the upside, I'm getting my novel edited by a published author/editor! I'm sooo excited! She's already torn up my prologue, and it's great =w= I love fixing things and making them awesome. Anywho, please excuse my tardiness and whatnot. And perty please PLEASE send a comment my way! Thanks! :)

-LR


	6. Chapter Five Village Hidden in the Sand

Author's Note: I apologize for the very long wait for this chapter. My computer was stolen by an employee of one of the La Quinta Inns—in Arkansas, to be precise. Spread the word that La Quinta is horrible in every conceivable way. They got us robbed, blamed it on us, didn't refund us for our stay or pay for the stuff that was lost (and we're talking about 10,000$ worth of stuff), and then made us sleep in a fingerprint dusted room for two nights when earlier that day they had told one of our friends that they had space available for the next couple of days. Their manager didn't even show up when we got robbed and wouldn't talk to my dad the next day. And don't get me started on how the police officer handled it! He was rude to my mom, yelled at my dad, and threatened our friend who was just trying to get us another room. From my experience, Arkansas seriously sucks. I'm sure it's great for other people, but I'm not going there every again. Anyways, here is the chapter! Hope you enjoy.

**Tale of a Shadow**

**Chapter Five**

**The Village Hidden in the Sand**

Training was beginning to become routine. I'd been in the Naruto world for three weeks, and it slowly began to feel like a weird sort of home to me. I mostly trained with Shika, although Asuma-sensei always took time to check my progress and help me with my chakra control. Sometimes I was right on and my shadow technique—which Shika nicknamed "the false shadow"—was wicked awesome. But most of the time it would backfire somehow and I would not be able to control it. Even so, I felt myself slowly becoming better at the basics. I was able to leap higher than the trees, and run so fast that someone standing still wouldn't be able to see me. Sometimes Asuma-sensei let us team up with Kurenai-sensei's team. Shino would teach me the finer points of stealth. Kiba was always good to observe as far as tracking went, and I learned a lot about observation from him—not that I hadn't always been observant, because I was like… the Sherlock Holmes of my household. A possible overstatement… Hinata was actually a pretty good teacher when it came to chakra. She explained it in ways that made more sense to my poor mystified brain (learning about the body had never been one of my strong suits, which was why I'd decided not to enter college as a science major but as a writing and lit major instead), and after my sessions with her trying to block her chakra jabs I always felt as if I could become better at my jutsus—not that this was the case, but, heck, it's not a bad thing to dream, right? All in all, I mostly hung out with my team. Shika helped me with my techniques and was an ever-present source of amusement. Choji was great as far as emotional support, and I finally knew someone who ate as much out of necessity as I did. Ino was, to my surprise, very friendly towards me. Maybe it was because I didn't pose a threat to her. I obviously was _not _interested in Sasuke. I proved that every time our paths crossed, and he quickly learned to steer clear of me. Most people made it a point to place themselves between us when we were forced into the same room.

The worst days were always the ones when my team had a mission. Since I was still a bit behind (um, _very _behind) the others in Team 10 I mostly spent my time on the sorts of missions you'd expect from a first-month Genin: I chased cats, weeded gardens, and painted fences. Most of these things I did by myself, but I was okay with that. Being alone wasn't all bad. It gave me time to think, and certainly time to… well, be myself, I guess. I'd felt the beginnings of an identity crisis in my first couple weeks in the Naruto world, and I was still suffering from the effects. Basically I'd let the geeky fan-girl side of me take over for too long, but now that I'd settled in more I didn't feel those inclinations. Sometimes Ino asked me if I was tired when I was just spacing out thinking about something entirely unrelated to anything happening in the present time and place. That was what I was usually like, and it was hard to explain to her that I wasn't always blabbing about psychic crap, or talking at a bazillion miles per hour, or hugging cute younger boys.

It was near the end of my third week as a Genin that my first _real _mission turned up—almost literally. I was walking with Ino, trying to figure out how my headband was supposed to fit over the fishnet I'd bought for my arms. It worked sort of like my younger brother's under armor in that it had very little function besides keeping my skin from the cold—not that it did a particularly good job. Ino glanced over at me and with a slight smile helped me tie the headband in place. We were standing like that when Choji ran up to us, panting.

"Hey, guys!" He called out, waving his hands as if we couldn't see him running down the street. I looked up at him with one dark eyebrow slightly raised.

"What's up, Choji?" I asked.

"Asuma-sensei says that the Hokage wants to see us," he responded. "He and Shikamaru are waiting." Ino and I shared a look and then turned back to Choji.

"Lead the way, then," I said. Silence was a rare thing for Team 10, so I wasn't surprised when Choji and Ino started arguing about something—I think it had to do with the chips Choji was currently scarfing down, but I wasn't really paying attention to them. I walked along with my hands in my pockets, wondering what sort of mission Team 10 could go on that would involve the newbie. Scenes from the Land of Mist arc flashed in my mind, and my gut clenched when I thought of getting pierced with a lot of tiny needles like Sasuke was. _I really hope it isn't anything too hard. _I thought with a sigh. _I don't want to end up as useless as Sakura._

"What's wrong, Elli?" I glanced at Choji and noticed that he and Ino were staring at me.

"Oh, nothing," I said quickly, feeling a bit sheepish at being caught spacing out, "I was just wondering… um… you know. What sort of mission this would be," I finished lamely.

"Could be anything," Ino responded, even though I wasn't expecting her to answer my question, "I'm sure you'll be fine. Your Tai-Jutsu is pretty good, so you shouldn't run into much trouble on a C mission."

"Will it be a C mission?"

"Most likely," Ino said. Comforted, I spent the rest of our trek to the Hokage's office mulling over my training, rehearsing in my head anything that could help me in a pinch. Asuma-sensei and Shikamaru were waiting outside the office for us. When we appeared, Asuma smiled in that heartbreakingly kind way he always did, and I tried not to feel upset—but it was really hard. We walked into the room together and found the Hokage standing beside his desk. A tall ninja stood beside him, dressed in familiar sand-colored clothing. My eyes widened but all the screaming took place in my head this time. _Oh my gosh! He's from the Sand Village!_

"Thank you for coming so quickly, Asuma-sensei," the Hokage said, not noticing my reaction, "I want you and your team to escort this emissary home to the Sand Village." I wondered privately whether the emissary wanted all this attention. I could tell by the expression on his face that he wasn't _thrilled. _The Hokage was probably just insisting on him having an escort while the emissary wanted to do his own thing. Made sense to me either way.

"Yes, Hokage," Asuma-sensei said, effectively breaking my chain of thought. I blinked and glanced at the Hokage.

"Then you will leave within the hour." An hour? Wow. That wasn't long at all. But the looks on my Team members' faces made me think that this time restriction wasn't all that uncommon. _Well, I don't think I've ever seen them take anything but weapons with them on trips. _I mused. _I guess I'll see what it's like for myself now. _

In reality, preparation for a mission wasn't really easy, nor was it difficult. Ino helped me choose the weapons I'd bring and the food I could fit in my buttpack (or whatever they called it). We made it to the front of the village in time, but I felt as if I'd just experienced a tornado. Pulling at my thick hair, I wished it would do something awesome like it usually did, but apparently my hair's bipolar disorder hadn't been cured by a trip to an anime dimension. Oh well. Ino and I approached the other members of Team 10. The emissary was standing next to Asuma-sensei, looking impatient. For a member of the Sand Village, he looked sort of different. Usually Sand Village ninja looked pretty… similar. But he had short blonde hair and dark green eyes, which made me feel as though I was no longer a part of the story I knew and love. Actually _living _in the Naruto world was not at all the same as reading about it. You saw so much more and understood a lot more than you would otherwise. And this emissary dude was a perfect example of that.

"Well, everyone," Asuma-sensei said, seeing that we were all here, "This is Jin. He'll be leading the way and we will follow. The mission is pretty standard, as you know, so don't be getting too nervous." He looked at me as he said this and I gave him a weak smile and a one shoulder shrug. Jin nodded and turned without a word to leave the village. I felt my chakra bubbling up and filling me with power as I shot off after my teammates. Asuma-sensei took up the rear position, with me and Ino just ahead and Choji and Shikamaru behind Jin. I felt the usually rush I always got while running, but I never seemed to feel pained or tired like I normally did. _I wish running were like this back home, _I thought. _I would probably do it more often. _

Surprisingly, I lasted three hours before I finally was forced to stop—and, also surprisingly, I was stopped not by exhaustion but by a wayward tree branch that I didn't see. As I landed on the tree and worked my muscles to jump off it again, one of my feet caught on the branch and I was sent plummeting into the branches of the next tree. I didn't scream or anything—I rarely did in circumstances that didn't involve horror and gore, and maybe not even then—but managed to keep my head and grab onto one of the branches, stopping myself in midair. Swinging upwards, I landed on the bough of the tree and shook my arms and legs out, making sure I hadn't gotten any wounds worse than the scratches on my neck and arms and the small cut on my ankle. I wished I had bought something way sturdier than fishnet.

"Are you okay, Elli?" Asuma-sensei asked, landing on the bough just beside me. I shrugged and smiled sheepishly.

"Just tripped, nothing serious," I said. "Sorry to hold you up." I called up to Jin, who was staring at me with one eyebrow arched. Shaking my head to rid it of the sense of muddling shock that falling usually gave me, I crouched and then leaped into the next tree. Jin gave me one last look and then turned to continue on. Lucky for me this was the only accident I had that first day, and as we found a place to set up camp I pulled out some of the band aids I'd stuck in my buttpack and began patching up my scrapes. Asuma-sensei prepared a meager meal for everyone, but I was too hungry to care about quality or quantity or whatever. I ended up sitting next to Jin, who had loosened up a little and was watching the other members of Team 10 talk with a mildly amused look on his face.

"So," I said aimlessly, and he glanced at me with his sharp eyes, "Which of the Genin from your village do you think will be the biggest competition in the Chunin exams?" Jin grinned at me slightly.

"There are many talented young ninja in our village, but the Sand Siblings are probably our most experienced and certainly they are very strong." I leaned my chin against the palm of my hand and sighed.

"That they are," I said. Jin looked at me with a surprised expression on his face.

"You know of the Sand Siblings?"

"Yep," I said with a smile, "I'm something of a traveler, so I hear a lot of what happens in other countries."

"And you've decided to settle down in the Leaf Village?" Jin looked at me steadily, his expression hard to read.

"Yes," I said with a sigh. "But I kind of wish I were in the Sand Village, if only so I could meet… one of the Sand Siblings. I really admire him, based on what I've seen and heard." I smiled and felt the usual weird fluttering in my stomach at the thought of Gaara. That feeling was stronger now than it used to be, since Gaara was… _real _now. Not just some fictional character I'd never get to meet.

"Oh, yes," Jin said with a nod, "Kankuro is one of our finest puppet masters. The instrument he built for himself is very interesting, to say the least." I glanced at Jin, confused, and then realized he'd thought I was talking about Kankuro. My head tipped slightly to one side as I regarded Jin's face, which seemed more relaxed than it had when I'd first met him. It was probably best not to mention the _real _ninja I was looking forward to meeting. But I couldn't resist asking about him.

"So what do you know about his brother? The youngest Sand Sibling?" I asked. Jin's eyes widened and he looked a bit paler. Not that I was surprised.

"Gaara is… dangerous," Jin said quietly, "It's best to leave it at that."

"You know the guy that Elli is always talking about?" Choji asked suddenly as he leaned over my shoulder, making me freeze. _Crap. _I thought. Jin glanced from Choji to me.

"Wait," he said slowly, "Which of the Sand Siblings did you say you were interested in?" I shrugged slightly.

"I've heard Gaara is a very skilled ninja," I mumbled. "I guess I'd missed the dangerous part."

"He's a Jinjuriki," Jin told me, as if this explained everything. I looked at him and arched one brow slightly.

"And that's… _bad?" _I asked.

"Well, they're just an accident waiting to happen if you ask me," Jin responded. I was pretty sure I'd made him feel uncomfortable. I just sighed and leaned back, wishing I'd brought more than my scanty blanket to keep me warm. Using my arm for a pillow, I closed my eyes and loosened up my shoulders.

"I think there's more to them than you think," I murmured and in the silence that followed I drifted off to sleep.

It took about three days to get to the Sand Village. Jin sometimes asked me about my travels, and I mostly made up stuff about the countries I'd seen in the show. He also seemed interest in my knowledge of Jinjuriki. I told him about one that I met once that liked to rap and always made me laugh, and of course I talked about Naruto being a ridiculous knucklehead who inspired pretty much everyone around him. It was one the last day, when we'd crossed onto desert terrain, that I finally talked about the one Jinjuriki that meant way more to me.

"There's also the one who had a really hard childhood," I said as Jin and I ran alongside each other. He looked at me with his dark eyes, curious. "No one in his village accepted him, and he was always alone. He didn't know what his purpose in life was, and he hurt a lot of people trying to find it. But another Jinjuriki met him and told him the truth: that having people depend on you and love you is the strength that you need to find your purpose. After that, this Jinjuriki turned around and began to change little by little. And now he's one of the most admired ninja in his village." I finished.

"Wow," Jin breathed. "I had no idea that there were really Jinjuriki like that…"

"There are," I responded with a solemn nod, "And they became that way by their own power. It's best not to assume just because they have a tailed beast inside of them that they'll turn out to be malicious and evil and dangerous. At least that's what I've learned."

"So did this Jinjuriki make a lot of friends, then?" Jin asked. I looked at him steadily and then looked away.

"He died when someone tried to remove the Jinjuriki from him," I murmured. Jin was silent, but I was glad to see that he looked remorseful. Maybe I was doing Gaara a favor by making one of his fellow Sand ninja give him the benefit of the doubt. Or maybe I wasn't. But hey, I wanted to help Jin see the light, as least.

About an hour later, we finally arrived in the Sand Village. Jin led us to the Kazekage's building. We were led into his office, and I looked at Gaara's dad steadily, knowing what was coming. It would be soon. _I wonder if Gaara felt any sadness when he learned that Orochimaru killed his father? _The question hovered in my mind, refusing to leave as the Kazekage signed some papers and paid Asuma-sensei for his time. We were dismissed soon enough and Asuma-sensei told us that he would be going to buy supplies. It was our time to wander, then, as long as we didn't get ourselves lost. Choji and Shikamaru went off to eat and I was forced to follow Ino into some stores to look at clothes. I got pretty tired after a while, though, so I stood outside while she tried to find something interesting to buy. Looking around the red-tinted streets, I tried to find someone I recognized. Needless to say there weren't that many people that sparked the little light bulb of recognition. I was just about to give up when I saw a familiar girl walking towards me. I started, taking her in and thinking, _is it really…? _

"Temari," I said out loud. She turned and looked at me, and that was when I realized that I had allowed myself to slip—yet again.

"Do I know you?" She asked.

"Not really," I responded with a shrug, "But I know of you. You're sort of hard to miss, you know." Temari stared at me and then smirked slightly.

"Oh yes?"

"Yeah," I said. "The hairstyle is pretty obvious, for one, and so is the huge rectangular Oreo on your back."

"Do you mean my fan?" One of Temari's eyebrows lifted slightly.

"Yeah, that," I amended. "I'm sorry, I just think that it sometimes looks too much like a certain cookie. But anyways… are your brothers around?" I asked, trying not to sound hopeful. Temari placed one hand on her hip and looked at me even more skeptically.

"No, not at the moment," she responded, "Why do you want to know?"

"Well," I said with a sigh, ignoring her question, "I guess I _will _meet them eventually." Turning, I saw Ino coming out of the store. Turning back to Temari, I lifted one hand in farewell, "See you then." I was aware of her staring after me and smiled to myself.

"What is it?" Ino asked, "You look sort of self satisfied."

"I am," I replied with a nod, "I most certainly am."

* * *

Author's Note: I really want to meet Gaara (or I guess make my character meet him). I'm so impatient I can't even wait until the Chunin exams lol. But rest assured everyone, the day will come when Elli and Gaara will meet. And that will be a very interesting day. Let's just hope she doesn't have a fangirl spazz attack ;) Anywho, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review/fav if you like :3 The reviews I've gotten have given me the willpower to continue on with the story! Yes, even the swearing was motivating (instead of horrifying, as it usually is to me). Haha. Well, thanks X1000000000000 for all the support. Love you guys! :D

-LionRoaR


	7. NOTICE!

Okay, guys. I have good news and bad news...

The good news is that I haven't given up on this story.

The bad news is that I do not like at all where it is going and I can't continue with it as it is. What does this mean?

I am TOTALLY REWRITING THIS FANFICTION!

I am aware that this process will be quite annoying to many of my readers. And I do also realize that many of you may not like how I change the story (it will be more serious in tone, as the comedic flare of the current story is not resting well with me). I will also be reconciling a lot of the loose ends that have been pointed out to me in this version. The main character's name will still be Elli, but I may change some of her looks and her personality a bit (just to get her back to what I originally wanted her to be). Another huge causation for this change is the fact that the story was originally going to flow along with my friends' fanfictions, but as of now it is splitting into something of its own story.

I am really sorry for those of you who are upset at this change. But sometimes an author has to do what an author has to do for the sake of the story. If you have any suggestions for the new story I am all ears :)

I will leave this version of the story up and labeled as "Complete" (since it will have no more chapters XP) and the new story will be called "False Shadows," so keep an eye out for it. Thank you for your understanding and I hope you all stick around for my new revamped story.

-Lion


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